Tropentag 2023, September 20 - 22, Berlin, Germany "Competing pathways for equitable food systems transformation: trade-offs and synergies."

Status of local feed mills in Nigeria: The case of Akure metropolis

Federal University of Technology Akure, Dept. of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Nigeria

Abstract

Quality livestock farmed animals and fish feeds available in Nigeria are sold at exorbitant prices. These high prices are associated with the high cost of importing feed ingredients and equipment used in feed mills. Another factor that is responsible for the current high price of animal feed is the erratic power supply/electricity and cost of getting alternative sources of power. Hence, the need to assess the status of local feed mills, thereby making animal farming/rearing sustainable and attractive to both private and commercial investors and eventually boost food production and food security in the country. This research assessed the status of local feed mills in Akure metropolis in enhancing agriculture development, and expansion in Akure metropolis and Nigeria as a whole. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study. Socioeconomic and Demographic characteristics of the respondents were analysed descriptively, Snowball method was used to locate the Fish Feeds Mills in Akure Metropolis. Results revealed that 69 percent of the respondents were male while 31percent were females; 61 percent were between the active age of 30 and 49 years; also, 70 percent had formal education. Currently, the status of Feed Mill industry in Akure metropolis is experiencing low growth due to high cost of fish feed ingredients which constituting about 60 percent of the total cost of fish production. Other fundamental challenges observed in this study were: lack of funds; technical know-how on the part of the feed millers; poor nutritional value of the locally produced feeds; and provision of storage facilities to prevent spoilage of feeds.
The study also revealed that, among the ten (10) feed mills visited in Akure Metropolis, none of the mills produces solely fish feed: only four (4) combined livestock and fish feeds while the remaining six (6) produces only livestock feeds. There was high concentration in the production of livestock feeds compared to local fish feed production in Akure Metropolis. The study therefore recommends, quick intervention from both the private and public sectors on the observed challenges impeding the development of feed mills in the Metropolis and the Nation at large.

Keywords: Akure, feed mills, modern, Nigeria, status

Contact Address: Lydia Adeleke, Federal University of Technology Akure, Dept. of Fisheries and Aquaculture Technology, Akure, Nigeria, e-mail: mosunmolalydiagmail.com